SAO: The Haiyamoto Story
by rjm324
Summary: Based on the highly successful Sword Art Online franchise, this alternate version of the SAO storyline follows Haiyo Yamamoto, aka Haiyamoto in-game, as he advances through the death game with all your favorite characters. Contains language and some suggestive themes.
1. Chapter 1

#1: November 6, 2022

He sat in front of his computer, watching the ongoing live stream being held for the biggest game release ever: Sword Art Online. And yet, despite the hype, Haiyo Yamamoto was only slightly excited for the game at all. Maybe it's because he was one of the 1,000 beta testers, but he dismissed this quickly; instead, he held to the belief that the game would be cluttered with dedicated, competitive pro-gamers.

"Maybe I'll get lucky and run into a few beta testers," Haiyo reassured himself. He always tries to stay positive during the darkest of times, even if it is melancholy reassurement. But for SAO, he was right to be worried; a game filled with extremely dedicated players and access to the game's special sword skill system was sure to make more than a few casual gamers nervous.

He looked at his clock: five minutes to launch time. Since he was a beta tester, Haiyo had priority to the retail version, so he had the game home already. With that in mind, he prepared his room (and more importantly himself) so that he could hop right in.

"Alright," he remarked. With his person finally prepared after three minutes, Haiyo brushed aside his silver-colored hair from his face and laid himself down in his bed. He placed the NerveGear on his head, closed his eyes, and said the magic words to bring the game to life.

"Link start," Haiyo stated. His vision blurred into a brilliant white and, after a brief login screen, found himself covered in a blue veil of pixels. Finally, he opened his eyes to the brilliantly colorful world of Aincrad, the floating castle that marked the setting for SAO. Only now did he believe he was in the virtual world. Just like before, Haiyo had no words to describe the feeling of standing in this fantastical world.

"Hello, Aincrad," he remarked, "I'm back."

SAO

Unlike the person he's like in the real world, Haiyo led a mostly sociable life in a game, a face hidden behind the virtual mask of an avatar. Under this persona, he was Haiyamoto, an obvious mash up of his real name to reassure himself that this character was his. Even after a minute, more and more players virtualized around him, until it seemed like a thousand people littered the entrance. After his minor excitement died down, Haiyamoto started the dull trek inside this first floor's city: the Town of Beginnings.

Inside was still as bustling as the entrance, but that was thanks in part to the various NPCs and their shops rather than excited players; although, players were starting to flow in, even in pairs already. It was calamity.

At that instant, he saw a blur of blue race past him. From first glance, Haiyamoto guessed it was a beta tester like himself; only the beta testers would be racing through town like they lived there. However, he paid the guy no attention as he returned to his own thing; jus a second later, he heard a man yelling out from the crowd.

"Hey, wait up!" The man seemed to scream over the roar of the crowd, followed by a blur of red in the corner of his eye. It was completely obvious the man was after the beta tester from a moment ago, but it's not like Haiyamoto blamed him. In fact, while he thought about it, maybe partying with a fellow beta tester would make the game more tolerable. At the same time, the point of an RPG is to make the character you want, not of what others thought of you.

_Well, what the hell? _Haiyamoto thought. _I can't distance myself all the time, so I might as well follow._ With all of his might, he did his best to trail both the man and the beta tester, and he actually caught up as they stopped in an alley.

"Hey, stop," the man and Haiyamoto yelled before acknowledging each other.

"Wait, who are you?" the two asked in unison. Now they were both annoyed by each other.

"Why were you following him?" Haiyamoto asked the man as he pointed to the kid in front.

"Why were you following me?" the man asked as he pointed to himself.

"I was following him."

"Then why are you asking ME why I was following HIM?" Both men bickered to each other while the kid stood back, confused with the whole situation.

Finally, the kid spoke up. "Umm, what do you two want?" Both men bolted upright and regained their composure.

"Umm, it seemed like you know you way around," the red haired man started. "So, I wanted to know something."

The kid blinked. "Ok?"

"Were you a beta tester?

Haiyamoto snapped back. "That's what I wanted to know!" He faced the kid. "There's no way any regular player would be blazing through town like that."

The kid blinked again. "Yeah, I'm a beta tester. So what?"

The man started blubbering. "W-well, could you show me how to play, then? I'm a bit inexperienced, you know."

The kid just blankly stared at him. "W-well,"

"H-hey," Haiyamoto interrupted. "I happen to be a beta tester, too. I just want to party up with you for a while."

The man twitched his head towards Haiyamoto. "N-no way. You're BOTH beta testers? Please teach me all you know. Please?" The man was on his knees, hands clamped together, and his head bowed. He was serious about some mentoring from others, but the man also seemed desperate.

"Wait, you're a beta tester, too?" the kid asked Haiyamoto.

"Sure am." Haiyamoto replied. "Although, I don't think I ever saw you around the beta test before. What's your name?"

"My avatar name is Kirito."

"Wait, THE Kirito? I actually heard about you from the other testers. They said you were one of the few who made it to floor eight before the test ended."

"It wasn't all that difficult. Anyways, what's your avatar name?"

"Haiyamoto, but I was probably on the other side of the popularity spectrum. No one really tried to party up with me."

"Well, considering you were also a beta tester, I guess we could party up for a little while."

"Sweet!" The blood was pumping now. Haiyamoto didn't have to start the game in isolation anymore, especially since Kirito was a real high performer to begin with."

"But," Haiyamoto started, "what do we do about him?" He pointed to the man once more, still in the same position as before.

"Hmm…" Kirito thought.

SAO

"Gah!" The man, who introduced himself to the two as Klein, had just been attacked by a blue-colored hog, indicated by an orange marker as a hostile mob. Kirito was training him in using the game's sword skills, but Klein just wasn't getting the hang of it at all.

"Grr, that hurt," Klein grunted as his face wore an expression of pain.

"You know that the game absolves you of pain, right?" Kirito asked as he covered his face into the palm of his hand.

Klein's expression suddenly changed. "Oh, right."

Haiyamoto was similarly astonished at Klein's stupidity. "Honestly, how dense can you be to forget that little detail?"

"Hey," Klein yelled. "That isn't very friendly of you."

"Just watch me, Klein," Kirito stated. He picked up a stone and held it in his right hand.

"Pretend this is a sword," Kirito started.

"Ok," Klein stated.

"You need to activate the sword skill by doing this." Kirito brought his arm behind his head, and the stone began to shine a bright red.

"Ok," Klein stated.

"Then, kapow!" Kirito tossed the stone at the hog, and it smacked its butt, decreasing the mob's health bar slightly.

"Kapow?" Klein asked. Despite his confusion, he followed Kirito's instruction, bringing his curved sword back behind his head; at that instance, his weapon began to glow a bright yellow. He looked at Kirito and Haiyamoto, who both nodded at him.

"Yaaaah!" Klein cried. When he brought his weapon back forward, the sword dragged him along as it moved in a constant, horizontal pace. As it made contact with the mob, the sword left behind a red slice in its victim. As the enemy's health bar depleted, it let out a pained cry as it imploded into a shower of blue pixels. A congratulations box popped up in Klein's view showing his acquired Col and XP.

"Haha," Klein chuckled. "Yeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

"Congrats," Kirito replied calmly.

"But, you do know that was about as powerful as slimes in other games, right?" Haiyamoto asked.

"Wha," Klein replied. "You're kidding!"

"Just look over there." Haiyamoto pointed out to the field, and as Klein took a peek, two more of the blue hogs spawned right in front of his eyes.

"Aww," Klein sighed.

"W-well," Haiyamoto stuttered, "you did look like a badass doing it, though."

Klein pepped up after he heard that. "Gee, you really think so?"

Kirito nodded. "I agree. You looked like you were having a lot of fun."

Klein smiled. "Thanks, guys. That means a lot coming from you two."

"Do you wanna keep practicing?" Kirito asked.

"Hell yeah, I do." After saying that, his face dimmed a little. "But, I've got to log out for now. I ordered a pizza for 5:30."

"Wow," Haiyamoto exclaimed. You came here prepared, didn't you?"

"Yep," Klein replied. "I stayed in line all night just pick up the game with all my friends, so after I log back in, I'm gonna go meet up with them."

"Suit yourself," Kirito replied. "But if you ever need help, message me."

"And me," Haiyamoto added. "You can trust either of us for help."

"I might just take you guys up on that offer."

"Awesome." Haiyamoto high fived Klein, who then high fived Kirito.

"Well, see you guys later," Klein told Kirito and Haiyamoto, who waved him goodbye before turning around to walk back into town. Haiyamoto was just happy to have made two friends there and now, so he just wore a huge grin on his face.

"What the hell?" Klein exclaimed.

Kirito turned around. "What's wrong?"

"The log out button is gone," Klein replied.


	2. Chapter 2

#2

Both Haiyamoto and Kirito stiffened up almost immediately. Unless Klein was just losing his marbles, then there's no reason for the log out button to be missing. If word had gotten out that one of the most basic functions of an MMO was omitted, the game's future would be placed into jeopardy.

"That can't be right," Kirito finally replied.

"Y-yeah, Klein," Haiyamoto followed. "If there's no log out button, then we would've heard about it ages before we logged on."

"Check it yourself, then," Klein insisted. "But I'm telling you it isn't there!" Hurriedly, Haiyamoto brought up his menu box, tapped the tab titled "Settings," and sure enough, the place that held the log out button on the beta was replaced with a blank icon. This was bad.

"Not there," Haiyamoto grumbled.

"Same with me," Kirito followed.

"See? I told you I wasn't crazy!"

Haiyamoto's eyes beamed. "But if there's no log out button, what are you to do about your pizza?"

Klein bolted upright.

"That's right," Kirito continued. "In fact, it's 5:25 right now."

Klein's expression changed to that of anguish. "OH NO! MY PRECIOUS PIZZA! WHAT AM I GONNA…" Kirito slugged Klein in the gut before he had a chance to finish.

"Guh!" Klein groaned. He once again fell to the ground as the hogs had moments earlier.

"Oh, right," Klein remembered, "it doesn't hurt."

"Guys!" Haiyamoto managed to get the other two's attention with a single, ear piercing screech.

"I know you two might be able to last a little while longer in here, but I've got my priorities to handle in the real world. Can you guys just shut the hell up for two seconds so we can figure out what we can to do log out already?" Both Kirito and Klein were shocked by his bluntness of speaking; in fact, Kirito seemed to have grinned slightly at Haiyamoto's attitude as if he respected him for it.

'H-hey, Kirito," Klein started, "is there some sort of emergency log out feature? Like a secret code word?"

Kirito thought for a minute. "Nope," he replied.

"Damn," Klein cursed.

"Did you try contacting the game master?"

Both Klein and Haiyamoto nodded.

"I did," Haiyamoto replied.

"I never got through," Klein added.

"Well, that's unusual," Kirito stated. "If the log out button was found to be missing, you'd think there'd be some kind of announcement about it by now, right?" Haiyamoto pondered this over for a moment more. It was true that an absence of the log out feature would cause a mass hysteria among gamers; in fact, with a NerveGear game, this hysteria would be further heightened by the fact no one could actually MOVE their physical bodies whine in a full dive.

Haiyamoto finally answered. "You may be right…"

"Hells yeah it would be a problem," Klein piped in. "I mean, a game like this would have a few bugs on launch day, but this is a bit extreme. I mean…"

Haiyamoto gasped. He was instantly covered in a familiar blue veil of pixels, and he was beyond startled. Through the veil, he saw Kirito and Klein covered with the same pixels.

_A teleportation portal? _He thought to himself. He knew for sure he wasn't dead, so it was the only logical explanation. After thirty seconds of blinding light, he opened his eyes only to find out he was teleported to the town's center with every other player in the game, including his two comrades who teleported with him.

_W-what the hell?_ Haiyamoto once again thought to himself. Why would they be brought here for apparently no reason whatsoever? _Unless…_

Just as he began to think, the sky suddenly lit up a brilliant crimson red; the majestic blue sky had been replaced with thousands of tiles that read "System Announcement." Kirito, Klein, and Haiyamoto's expressions all instantly changed.

"Are they finally issuing a statement?" Haiyamoto asked.

"If it is," Klein started, "then they better have a damn good explanation for this."

"No kidding," Kirito followed. As he finished that statement, brilliant blue lighting began to sizzle and crackle, and a large blob of red goo began to seep down from the artificial ceiling. The blob then began to morph rapidly and, before long, floated brilliantly in the air as a humanoid figure covered in a crimson robe and wearing white gloves. However, upon further inspection, there was no physical person inside the robe.

The figure began to raise his arms up. "Greetings, players," the figure started, "and welcome to my world." A murmur began to rise up from the crowd.

"The hell does he mean his world?" Klein asked.

"Perhaps he's the game master?" Haiyamoto suggested.

"Maybe," Kirito added.

"For those who don't know, my name is Akihiko Kayaba, the developer of Sword Art Online, and I have come here to shed some light on a recent discovery made by those in game."

"Kayaba?" Haiyamoto stiffened in shock. Akihiko Kayaba was the genius mind who invented the NerveGear and, subsequently, SAO itself. This man was a legend, and he wanted to tell his players personally about this flaw? At first, Haiyamoto was in a state of awe at this man's humbleness.

"Now, I know most of you have noticed that the log out button has been removed your menu."

_Get to the point! _Haiyamoto thought.

"Let me assure you, this is not a flaw. It is a feature of SAO." Now the crowd began to drown itself in a constant uproar.

"A-a feature?" Kirito exclaimed.

"N-no way," Klein panicked. "There's just no way! Does he think he can just keep us locked up in here like this? Well, he's DEAD wrong!"

"Pipe down," Haiyamoto sternly stated. "I'm sure he's going to tell us the basics right now."

Kayaba continued. "In addition, if you die in the game or if someone tries to forcefully disconnect you from the game, the NerveGear will send powerful microwaves directly to your brain, killing you instantly." Now the crowd was enraged. There were even a few screams of terror breaking through the crowd. It was pure madness in every direction.

_Instantly killed?_ Haiyamoto once again thought. All this information was so overwhelming to him that his mind was a cluttered mess. If you die in the game, you die in real life. If someone tries to remove the NerveGear, you die instantly. There is no form of player revival if a player's health reaches zero. Granted, he had been close to death once, but he never thought he would be at death's door yet again.

"There's no way," Klein remarked. "The NerveGear would need one powerful ass battery to fry a person's brain."

"It's not impossible," Kirito responded. "A third of the NerveGear's weight is an internal battery, so I'd bet it's more than enough."

"N-no way," Klein gasped in disbelief.

"One last thing," Kayaba's smooth, emotionless voice snapped Haiyamoto out of his trance. "Inside of each player's item inventory lays a gift I have provided for all of you. Feel free to look at it." Kirito and Haiyamoto both hastily opened up their inventories, and in both, the same item resided there. Mirror. As soon as Haiyamoto tapped the item, a plain mirror materialized in his hand. His avatar's stoic face with dark hair reflected back at him.

_What am I supposed to be looking at?_ He asked himself. Suddenly, Klein lit up blue once again, followed by Kirito, and finally himself. He looked around to see everyone in the area blinded in a blue veil as well. When the blue flashed a blinding white, Haiyamoto squeezed his eyes shut with all his might, but the light still managed to blind him regardless.

After what seemed like an eternity of light, his eyes darkened, and he slowly reopened them. At first glance, everything seemed exactly the same as before; however, when he looked at his mirror, he saw something that probably scared him more than anything else in his life.

In the mirror, he saw a stern faced teen with grey eyes, grey hair, and an emotionless expression on its face.

"I-it's me?" Haiyamoto was baffled. He knew his avatar looked just like it did when he logged on not too long ago, but this was insane. How did the NerveGear manage to create an exact replica of his face, not to mention all of his physical features like his height and his body frame?

Now completely overwhelmed, Haiyamoto dropped his mirror and it shattered on impact with the ground. Looking to his right, he saw two people who he thought were Kirito and Klein, but he wasn't too sure. One of them was a short kid with spiked, short black hair, and the other looked like a red haired bandit with a bandana and a little scruff on his face.

"Umm," Haiyamoto started, "who are you?"

"I should be asking the same thing, punk," the man replied.

"Want to fight, then?" Haiyamoto asked.

"Sure," the man growled. The two both drew their swords and prepared to strike.

"Hold it," the kid scolded just as the two began to bring their swords down. "Were you two standing by a player a few inches taller than me a second ago?"

"Yeah, so?" the man asked.

"Wait," Haiyamoto interrupted. "Does that make you…"

All three suddenly pointed fingers.

"You're Kirito?" Haiyamoto asked the kid.

"You're Klein?" the kid asked the man.

"You're Haiyamoto?" the man asked Haiyamoto.

All three stumbled backwards; in fact, they managed to startle each other with how different their avatars were now.

"How is this possible?" Klein asked.

"I think he's about to explain." Kirito pointed at Kayaba, who looked ready to speak again.

"You're probably asking yourselves why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, the inventor of the NerveGear and SAO, do this?" He paused for a moment before continuing. "In honesty, my goal was to fill a virtual world inhabited by thousands of people, and I feel I have achieved that goal. However, thanks to various outside sources, there are now 213 fewer players inhabiting the game."

_213?_ Haiyamoto thought. _This guy is a madman._ From Kirito's expression, he felt the same thought inhabited Kirito's mind.

"But do not be alarmed," Kayaba continued, "the chances of any more accidental deaths are slim now. The news regarding the deaths has been spread far and wide, and right this minute, your bodies are likely being transported to hospitals with adequate security. Therefore, you can think about nothing else but clearing the game." Once again, the crowd roared in panic, and it wasn't hard to see why.

"Not even us beta testers got above floor eight in a month," Yamamoto yelled. "So how are we even gonna clear the whole game with a mix of 10,000, mostly inexperienced players?" He was worried that there was a chance the game would never be cleared, that this game would become his new reality. It wasn't a pleasant thought.

"This concludes the tutorial for Sword Art Online," Kayaba stated. "Best of luck to you, players." Suddenly, the robed figure began fogging up as it morphed back into a crimson blob, retreating back behind the announcement tiles in the sky. As soon as all traces of Kayaba's presence ceased to exist, the sky returned to a bright blue, cloudy and all.

The circle remained quiet for only a minute afterwards.


	3. Chapter 3

#3

The entire crowd roared back to life in the form of an endless wave of anger, screams, and disbelief. After basically being told they were having a gun held to their heads, any normal person would rightfully be in shock over this stunning revelation. It was made even more shocking that one of the developers of the game delivered this ultimatum.

"Kirito?" Haiyamoto asked.

Kirito nodded. "Klein, you're coming with us." Both He and Haiyamoto grabbed Klein by his arms; still stunned by the announcement, Klein was caught completely off guard when he suddenly found himself dragged through the crowd. Although he would've started resisting any other time, Klein was in no condition to move on his own; in a way, he was indebted to the two beta testers at that moment.

After several minutes of shuffling, the three finally made it to one of the exit arches, mostly unscathed. Soon, all three, including Klein, were bolting through the crowded Town of Beginnings until they made it to an alleyway. It looked like the coast was most certainly clear.

"Wait," Klein yelled as he held his ground at the entrance. Both Haiyamoto and Kirito stopped and turned around to confront Klein.

"What's wrong?" Kirito asked.

"You aren't having second thoughts, are you?" Haiyamoto asked.

Klein shook his head. "It's not that."

Haiyamoto tilted his head. "What is it, then?"

Klein looked back towards the town center. "Remember when I told you I waited in line to buy the game?"

"Yeah, so?" Kirito asked.

Klein grimaced. "Well, I stayed in line all night with my friends just so we could all play together on launch day. But…" Klein turned his head back to face his two new friends. "…they're probably still back in the circle, scared about what to do next. And I can't just leave them back there."

Kirito nodded. "I understand. You need to go rescue them like we did with you."

"It's cool," Haiyamoto added. "I know the feeling."

Klein managed a smile. "Thanks again, you guys. It really means a lot."

Haiyamoto was still fidgeting. "Are you gonna be ok without us to tag along with?"

"Are you kidding?" Klein replied. "I used to run a guild in the last MMO I played. I'll be fine." Just then, his eyes gleamed. "Hey, do you guys want to meet my friends? Maybe even party up with them?"

Kirito fell quiet.

"Uhhh," Haiyamoto droned.

Klein shook his hands. "W-wait. I'm not trying to force you guys into something you don't want to. There'll be other times to meet them."

Kirito nodded. "Yeah. Sorry."

"Don't sweat it," Klein replied. "You two helped me out lots today. I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you for the training you gave me."

Haiyamoto shook Klein's hand. "It was no big deal. You would've needed help sooner or later, so we were happy to help."

"I'd probably be on floor eight again in no time," Kirito started, "so yeah. It's no trouble."

The three once again stood in uneasy silence. They almost feel sad that they'll soon part ways, possible for good. But, it seemed Haiyamoto was taking it the hardest out of all of them.

_I don't like this feeling,_ he thought. _It's just all too familiar to me. But, he does need to go his own way. So…_

"Let's go," Haiyamoto told Kirito. Kirito just nodded as the two began trekking backwards.

"H-hey," Klein blurted out. The two faced him once more.

"You two look better that way." Klein announced. "That younger look makes you two look like such a couple."

The duo just smiled. "And you look a thousand times better looking like a mountain bandit." And just like that, the two turned their backs on the first friend they ever made in the game. After a few yards, Haiyamoto paced backwards and sure enough, Klein was nowhere to be seen.

SAO

Haiyamoto came to a grinding halt as he and Kirito reached the edge of town.

"H-hey, what's wrong?" Kirito asked.

Haiyamoto's silver eyes looked grim. "I think this is where I get off."

"Why?" Kirito asked. "Weren't you the one excited about forming a party with me?"

"I was," Haiyamoto continued, "but Klein made me realize something."

Kirito tilted his head. "What's that?"

Haiyamoto took a breath. "It seemed obvious that Klein went back for his friend because that was what he wanted to do. And, I admit, the only reason I partied with you was for the extra protection." He shed a single tear. "The truth is I was a horrible player during the beta test, and I learned just as much from that demonstration as Klein did. But, I just didn't want to admit it because I liked the attention I got from Klein."

Kirito just stared into Haiyamoto's eyes. He wasn't sure what to think, but he needed to get out and earn quest items before the entire floor was cleared.

"W-well,"

"Just stop, man. I can manage leveling up on my own. Hell, I'll probably see you at this floor's boss in no time flat.

"I-if you say so." Kirito began to fidget. "W-well, I gotta go."

Haiyamoto smiled. "Go raise some hell, man." Kirito just nodded before he turned around and made a mad dash down the dirt path.

Haiyamoto just watched as Kirito ran further and further away.

_Someday,_ he thought, _we will meet once again._ He held open his hand.

_And next time, _he clenched his hand closed, _I'll be ready to fight along side him for sure._

* * *

><p>Hey there, guys. Welcome to the end of the chapter. Congratulations! These first three chapters, as you could tell, were dedicated to introducing our main character, Haiyo Yamamoto, to the insane, twisted world of SAO, and there's a lot more of this hellish landscape for him to explore.<p>

Although I've focused on placing our protagonist in the thick of the madness in the beginning, we're going to see the story take a change in perspective; not only will the story start to branch off into its own unique experience, but we'll start to see the world through only Haiyamoto's eyes.

You'll see what I mean in the next chapter; until then, thanks once again for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your day!

-rjm324


	4. Chapter 4

#4: December 2, 2022

One month. The same amount of time that the beta test lasted for. In that same amount of time, the beta testers got to floor eight, with players like Kirito leading the pack. But now? We haven't even made it past floor one.

Yet after one month, I, Haiyamoto, have managed to make it to level five despite my inexperience. Right now, it doesn't seem to be that impressive, but in this game of death, it's at least better than being level one or, even worse, dead. Even though I haven't partied up with anyone ever since Kirito left, I've seen death claim many of the 2,000 who have now ceased to exist.

Things seem to be looking up, though. After I reentered the Town of Beginnings today, I caught wind of a meeting, discussing the next course of action to be taken. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I can only guess that someone FINALLY found the dungeon's boss. That seems like a long shot, but it's something to string some hope on.

I decided to make my way to the meeting place: an old coliseum made of a white stone, maybe marble. Walking along with the dozens of others who plan to clear the game was both intimidating and disheartening. On the one hand, the fact that nearly thirty players were prepared to risk their lives to crack the first boss was inspiring, even to a beta tester like me; on the other hand, it was disappointing to see that these thirty out of nearly 8,000 players were the only ones deeply concerned with the game being cleared.

Anyways, we continued down the street, surely with pained looks of anxiety painted on most of them. Suddenly, I noticed a brown shroud slip past my left side. At first, I thought it was Kayaba, spying on his subjects, but I quickly dismissed that idea; I reassured myself that he would instead try to hide in plain sight. Knowing that, this player was the peak of my interest with their shadowy attitude. So, despite the risk, I nudged past the elite players to catch up with the robed figure.

I almost lost him when I walked up to the coliseum; it truly was a marvel, painted in a brilliant white and towering several stories high. I quickly snapped out of my trance, refocusing my efforts at tailing the robe again. It wasn't too hard, as I quickly relocated him and took a seat a few paces to the left of him.

But yet, something was off about this person. If you were to look at me, I'm dressed in an outfit composed of a black shirt, crimson shoes, deep blue pants, and a deep blue jacket; I couldn't hide myself even if I tried. But with this person, the robe seems to hide something they wouldn't want anyone to see.

That was it. My curiosity took over.

"H-hey there," I began. "What are you doing over here by yourself?"

The robe turned towards me, and I got a look at the face. I saw no eyes, but it was oddly shaped with smooth curves and decorated with light pink lips. At that instant, I knew what was going on.

"What does it matter?" the voice asked earnestly. It was clear I was speaking to a female player, as her voice reminded me of my sister. I also took note of the chestnut hair that continued past her shoulders under the hood.

"W-well, I j-just think that y-you should, umm…" I don't know why, but I was flustered. I knew quite a few girls in the real world, but something felt wrong about her. Maybe it was just because of her resemblance to my sister, but I felt very awkward around this girl.

"Hmmm?" she continued. "What do you want?"

"Oh, it's nothing." I squeaked out. She turned her head back towards the stage without another word. What was wrong with me? I never have so much trouble with girls, but what was wrong now?

"Can I have your attention, please?" A blue haired player called out from the stage. I guess the meeting was about to get underway now.

"Now then," he continued, "I would like to start by thanking all of you for coming. My name here is Diabel, a knight of this world." I chuckled. There was no form of job system here, but his dedication lightened me up a bit. Everyone in the stadium also agreed with me, shouting out similar remarks.

"H-hey," he interrupted. "Do you want to hear what I have to say or not?" The stadium once again grew silent.

"One of the parties found the boss' lair today, at the top of the tower." Everyone, including myself, finally grew interested. After a month of leveling, everyone was anxious to finally get a chance to move onto the next floor. And traversing the labyrinths was the only way to unlock the next floor. As soon as the boss is beaten, though, the teleport gate is opened, and players can travel freely between floors.

"As you know," Diabel continued, "the next step is to beat the boss, continuing onto floor two. After that, it is our duty to inform all of the Town of Beginnings' residents that it is possible to clear the game. Am I wrong?"

He wasn't wrong, of course. Perhaps if the others are shown it's possible to clear the game, maybe there will be more confidence in the others to join the front line, wasting no time in getting home safely. Just then, the crowd broke into applause, and I generously joined in. But, the girl sitting next to me did nothing. What is with this girl?

"As to how we'll beat the boss, we'll start by grouping into parties of four to six players each." I twitched. Everyone in the first few rows vigorously formed their parties without a problem. I turned back to the girl almost immediately.

"H-hey," I started again. "Wanna party up? It's not like we can beat the boss as solo players." That was ironic coming out of me, but what choice did I have? There was no one else to party up with, so she was my first option.

Instead of a rejection, she just nodded. "Ok," she followed. I sent her a party request almost immediately, and she just as swiftly accepted. Her username, in turn, showed up in my window: Asuna.

"Asuna," I spoke out loud. "That's a pretty name. Is it part of your real name?" She said nothing as I realized how wrong that sounded.

"W-wait, that came out wrong. I…"

"H-hey, can I join your party?" asked a familiar voice. I looked past Asuna's head to discover Kirito sitting right next to us.

"K-kirito?" I asked.

"That you, Haiyamoto?" he asked back. I was instantly relieved to see him again.

I smiled. "Yep, buddy. It's me."

"Well then, mind if I join your party?"

"Sure thing, pal." I would be stupid not to. I looked at Asuna. "Don't worry. This guy is one of my friends. We can trust him." She silently nodded as I sent Kirito a party request. His health bar appeared in my window as a sign of his acceptance. I turned back to Diabel once more.

"I'm guessing you all have your parties formed by now." He implied. "Now then…"

"Wait just one second!" a voice from the crowd called out. However, when I turned, the man was standing on the top of the coliseum. He didn't stay there for long, as he jumped down from the top all the way to the stage at the bottom. As soon as he landed, I took note of his appearance; he was around my height, had red hair, and wore one of the standard outfits found at one of the NPC shops.

"Now listen up," the man started. "My name's Kibaou, got it?"

_Sure,_ I thought. _How could we not with your yelling?_

He continued. "I want to let everyone know something that's been bothering me for a while. You all know about the 2,000 people dead so far, right? Well, some of you need to apologize to them right now!" He was practically screaming as he pointed to the crowd. What the hell is this guy's problem?

"You mean the ex-beta testers, don't you?" Diabel requested.

"Who else would I be referring to?" Kibaou replied. "As soon as this stupid game started, those bastards took off, taking all the easy quests and good hunting spots for themselves and leaving us beginners in the dust." He stared angrily at the crowd. "Hell, I'd be willing to bet there are some of them here now."

The feeling of shame he was trying to instill was nonexistent. In fact, I felt nothing but bitter hatred towards this bastard.

"In fact," he continued once more, "we should make them get on their knees, apologize, and relinquish all the money and items they stole as compensation for their greediness. In fact, why should we trust them in our parties when they don't trust us in the first place?"

It was taking all of my strength not to slug this asshole right in his jaw after what he was suggesting. Who the hell did he think he was, Akihiko Kayaba? I swear, I haven't felt this pissed in a long time. Why I oughta…

"Mind if I say something?" I heard another player say, and that snapped me out of my anger fit. It was a large, brown brute I was sure could pass for a barbarian with the right outfit. As he walked towards the front, I noticed an axe sheathed on his back, and when he stood in front of Kibaou, he looked like a giant.

"The name's Agil," the brute began. "Kibaou, right? So, let me see if I heard you correctly. You're saying that since the ex-beta testers didn't stay to help the beginners out, they should be punished and stripped of their items. Did I leave anything out?"

"You sure didn't," Kibaou replied.

Just then, Agil pulled out a brown book with a blank cover out from his pocket. "You know they still give these away for free, right?" Agil asked. "The guidebook?"

"Yeah, I have it, too. What about 'em?"

"You know who was handing these out?" Kibaou looked as if he didn't.

"No, who?"

"The ex-beta-testers." The crowd instantly began to murmur loudly. I knew all about that, too. But I guess only people like me care to know something like that.

"Listen up," Agil announced to the crowd, "Everyone had equal access to all of this information, but many players still died. I didn't come here to point fingers, I came here because I want to learn from their mistakes, to defeat the boss."

I was awestruck. I don't know very many people who don't hold a grudge against the beta testers, but Agil is definitely the most inspiring of them all.

He turned back to Kibaou. "Anything else you want to add?" Kibaou just grunted and stumbled back to a seat with the crowd. Agil retreated as well to his seat.

Diabel took center stage again. "Alright, back to the meeting." He continued. "Now, in the guidebook you just heard about, there is information about this floor's boss." The murmuring quickly grew in volume with this additional insight.

"The boss' name, according to the guidebook, is Illfang the Kobold Lord, and he will also be surrounded by a group of Ruin Kobold Sentinels, his servants."

At this point, the description seems very long winded. Now that I think about it, how did they get so much information about the boss?

Diabel continued. "The boss itself carries an axe and a buckler, and has four health bars. In addition, when the final bar is in the red, he switches to a curved sword called a Talwar and it shifts its attack patterns as well." To be honest, hearing the explanation regarding the boss nearly lulled me to sleep. I knew most of this information firsthand, so I really didn't need to come today.

"That's it for briefing," Diabel proclaimed as he shut the book. "Now, in terms of loot distribution, it will work like this: money will be divided equally amongst all players, the party that kills the boss gets the XP, and any dropped items go the player who receives it. Any objections?"

Personally, I had no issue with it at all, and I could tell everyone else was fine with these terms as well. I peeked at Kirito, and he just nodded in confirmation.

"Wonderful!" Diabel exclaimed. "Then the mission will start at 10 in the morning. Everyone is dismissed."

It's about time. As the parties slowly filed out the way they came in, I turned to look at the crowd gathered at the bottom. It seemed like Kibaou was apologizing to Diabel for interrupting the meeting; with the way he was speaking, he's lucky I don't take out half of his health with a single slug. I turned back to talk to Asuna and Kirito, but I noticed they weren't sitting; in fact, they were already walking out of the stadium with the other parties.

On that note, I stretched out of my seat and rushed to catch back up with them.

* * *

><p><strong>Greetings, readers. Once again, thanks for reaching the end of the chapter. As you see, I have shifted the perspective from third person to first person, inside Haiyamoto's head. I hope this shift will make the story more interesting for you. Also, I haven't really shifted the story much besides adding my character. I've still got a bit of world building before the story can truly shift. I've got some big plans for the future, and Asuna will help out with that in a big way.<strong>

**Lastly, expect some decent gaps in between chapters, since I'm still a high school senior and all. However, I'll still support this fanfiction as well as my Gran Turismo and Crash Bandicoot as much as I can. *shameless self promotion* In fact, you should go read those those as well if you get bored here. *shameless self promotion***

**Once again, thanks for reading, and look forward to the next chapter. **

**-rjm324**

**P.S. I promise less dialogue and more action next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

#5

I stood from a distance as Asuna and Kirito were seemingly talking to each other. After half an hour of searching, I just went out of town to try leveling up a little more. Although that failed, I noticed the two of them sitting on a bench near the center of town, talking and eating the delicacy: bread. It wasn't much to see, but it helped me see the gentler side of this hellhole.

Seeing as how I wasn't needed, I walked off, found an inn, and slept that day off. However, nothing would prepare me for what happened the next day. I woke up around nine, got ready, and met up with Kirito and Asuna once again.

"Oh, Good morning," Kirito said.

"Morning," I muttered. I felt a tad bit grumpy on account of the boss fight coming up. Not that I didn't want to fight, I just felt discouraged alongside the other, higher ranked players.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," I replied.

"Doesn't sound like it," he snapped.

I grumbled again. "I… was just thinking about the battle."

"Me too. It'll be great when we all beat it, won't it?"

"Sure will." I turned to Asuna. "What about you? Are you ready to face it?"

"S-sure," she replied with a stutter. I sensed she also had some uncertainty, but it relaxed me quite bit knowing I wasn't the only one.

"Well," Kirito started, "shall we?"

SAO

"Let's go over the plan again," Kirito announced as we walked down the path in the forest. As we had heard, we were on our way to the dungeon and, in turn, the boss' lair. Kirito was just giving me and Asuna a reminder on our plan of attack.

He continued. "As the backup team, our target is the boss' minion, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels."

"We know," Asuna and I replied, almost like clockwork.

He continued once more. "I'll go in first and knock their weapons out of the way. Once that's done, you two will switch and take them out."

I just nodded, but Asuna asked, "What's a switch?"

Both Kirito and I looked at her, but Kirito responded. "Hold on, it this the first time you've been in a party?"

"Yes," she responded. Kirito just froze in place as me and Asuna walked forward. Did it really surprise Kirito that she didn't know one simple facet of the game? He may be a good swordsman, but he needs to realize that can happen sometimes.

Nevertheless, we turned back to see Kirito sighing at this revelation. It was going to be a long game if he kept up this bellyaching.

SAO

Standing in front of the door, Diabel brought his sword into the ground, turning to the assault team to address us before we fought to the death.

"Listen up," he began, "I've got one thing to say to all of you: let's beat this boss." It wasn't much of a speech, but the crowd certainly was fired up to win.

"Let's go," he replied as he pushed the boss' door open. It creaked as the door opened inch by inch, as when the door opened completely, there was only darkness. As we walked in, we saw a shadow at the far end of the corridor, undoubtedly the boss. Diabel, of course, took the lead while the rest of us filed in behind him.

As the last person entered, the room filled with blinding, artificial light, as the shadowy figure appeared right in front of us with a thud. It was a fat, red colored being with a square target on its belly, a giant axe-like weapon, and a shield. A red indicator appeared above its head, and its name, Illfang the Kobold Lord, followed shortly afterwards. As it let out a bloodcurdling roar, four health bars filled up and his entourage of helpers appeared in blinding blue pillars of light.

"CHARGE!" Diabel proclaimed. Kirito Asuna, and I (and everyone else) began to run towards the enemy, and the enemy did the same. As soon as I saw sparks up ahead, I knew the battle was well underway. Kirito took lead for our group by taking on the first Sentinel.

Nearby, I heard Diabel barking orders like he did it for a living. He was telling the groups on the boss precisely when to attack and when to switch. It really was a sight to behold.

"Squads D, E, and F, keep those minions off of us," he reminded.

"Roger," Kirito replied. In a split second, he had the first minion disarmed.

"Asuna, switch!" he exclaimed as he moved on to the next target. In a flash, she disappeared from my side, and was already halfway to the enemy. It was, in a word, impressive how quickly she moved. Hell, I couldn't even see the tip of her rapier as she sliced and diced the minion in record time, followed by the blue pixilation of death. I looked at Kirito, and his face told me he was just as impressed.

"Not bad," I replied softly. Suddenly, I noticed a minion try to get the jump on Kirito.

"Behind you," I yelled, and Kirito swiftly blocked the minion's blow. Once more, he knocked its weapon off, but he asked me to switch. I obliged, and brought my mighty two handed sword behind me; when it turned blue, I hacked the minion into two pieces as it also exploded into blue pixels.

I looked at my sword in amazement. I had no idea it was so powerful. For once, I felt like a total badass. My celebration was cut short, as I heard Illfang roar behind me; when I turned around, I saw that its final health bar was in the red, which meant it was time to change tactics. Instantaneously, the creature threw up his weapon and sword, leaving him defenseless.

"Looks like the guidebook was right after all," Kibaou noted. For once, I actually agreed with that monster.

"Stay back," Diabel yelled as he darted past the rest of us. "I've got him." No doubt, he was after the last attack bonus, and I don't blame him. After all that masterful coaching, he even deserved it. As I sliced another minion, I turned to Kirito only to find puzzlement in his expression.

"What's wrong, Kirito?" I asked.

He disarmed another enemy. "I thought we were all supposed to fight him as a group." I had forgotten about that detail, but he was right.

"But then why…"

As Diabel charged his sword skill, Illfang pulled out his weapon. My eyes widened as I got a good look at the sword. It wasn't a Talwar; the sword's tip branched into two distinct tips, which meant it was a No-Dachi. From what I heard, its weapon in the beta was a Talwar, so now Diabel was basically performing a death march. Kirito's expression confirmed my fears.

"STOP!" Kirito exclaimed as he bashed an enemy away. "It's pointless! Hurry back over here!"

It was too late. Just as Diabel was ready to strike Illfang, the enemy jumped into the air, bounced off all the pillars in the room like a pinball, and came back to the ground with a thud, slashing Diabel right in the center of his chest. Suddenly, the monster slashed Diabel once more before Diabel had a chance to hit the ground. As he flew in our direction, I heard shouts in the crowd as Illfang roared once again, landing right in front of the assault team.

"Diabel!" Kirito exclaimed. I followed up right behind him in case the minions tried coming his way. Kirito landed right beside him, but judging by Diabel's rapidly draining health bar, he was as good as dead.

"What the hell were you thinking trying to face him alone?" Kirito pressured as he pulled out a healing potion. As he brought it close to Diabel, the wounded leader refused the potion, bringing it back to Kirito. Kirito was shocked, but it was for the best anyways.

"Y-you guys w-were beta testers, weren't you?" Diabel croaked. Kirito and I were in even greater shock than before, but Kirito looked like he also has a question to ask.

"You were too, weren't you?" Kirito asked. Suddenly, the puzzle fell into place.

"That's why you went after the boss alone wasn't it?" I followed. Diabel just let out a wry smile as he started to glowed blue.

"Y-you two n-need to defeat the boss," Diabel started again as he started to fade. "Do it for everyone's sake." Those were his last words before he burst into the same blue pixels as the enemy. I saw the shock in everyone's faces as Diabel ceased to exist in Kirito's arms.

I finally understood how I was going to survive. Depending on other people wasn't going to get me through; working together, leveling higher, and following any plans made. Diabel had tried facing Illfang alone, and that foolish mistake cost him his life, and I got to experience firsthand how that ends up.

In the instant afterwards, I was fired up and ready to kill that bastard boss. Kirito stood up, also ready to fight. And in another instant, Asuna materialized beside us.

"You guys ready?" I asked Kirito and Asuna.

"Ready," Asuna replied. Kirito nodded.

"Ok," I replied. "Kirito, take the lead."

"Right," he replied, and the three of us darted ahead.

"We'll attack him just like the minions," Kirito barked.

"Gotcha," I replied.

"Understood," Asuna replied. Kirito ran right up to the boss, and clashed swords with Illfang. The result was a brilliant light show of sparks as Kirito yelled at us to switch. Asuna took first charge while I lagged behind a little. However, the boss sparked back to life and began to take aim at Asuna.

"Watch out!" Kirito and I screamed. As the boss sliced, only her shadowy robe vanished, revealing her true form. Once again, I saw her beautiful, long chestnut hair, but I also saw she wore one of the standard battle outfits and her pretty face showed she was determined to win. She brought up her rapier once again and knocked the boss back a great distance away from us guys while our jaws were on the ground in shock.

"That was…"Kirito started.

"…breathtaking." I finished. We couldn't revel in her beauty for long.

"Here he comes again!" Kirito announced. All three of us took turns slicing away at Illfang's health while the others held off the minions in our absence. After I took my turn, Kirito darted ahead to take a stab at him; however, the boss was a bit faster and took a slice at Kirito that blew him back, with Kirito landing right on top of Asuna.

In a split second, I took charge and began to hold off Illfang's devastating weapon until I was also lying on the ground next to the other two. The boss once again charged his sword skill, ready to take all of us out.

Just then I heard a battle grunt as a stream of emerald pushed the boss back to his corner. I looked up to see Agil standing over us. Then, the rest of the squads darted ahead to get back into the action.

Agil spoke. "We'll hold this bastard off until your health recovers."

I nodded. "Sure, thanks." Agil went back towards the boss, leaving the three of us to watch as all their strength went towards keeping Illfang in check. But, he easily beat back the immense force and hopped back into the air, ready to strike again.

Then, Kirito got back up to try again.

"What are you…" I started.

"Stay back!" he exclaimed. He jumped as well, charging up his own sword skill to use against Illfang. With a swipe, the boss fell on his back while his health bar depleted some more.

"Asuna! Haiyamoto!" Kirito yelled our names. "One last assault should kill this sucker."

"Got it!" Asuna and I once again said in clockwork. With the boss down, the tree of us darted towards him with all our might as we charged all of our sword skills. Asuna's speed, Kirito's skill, and my strength. There was no way Illfang could dodge this blend of skill.

Kirito striked first, then Asuna swiped. I followed with a slice, leaving the boss stunned. From behind, Kirito sliced Illfang from the bottom of its body to the head, screaming a battle cry as he did. After his sword exited Illfang's body, the boss roared one more time as it flew into the air, exploding into familiar blue pixels.

It was over, we had won.

SAO

The players roared into cheers as the reward screens lit up with earnings. Somehow, I had earned enough EXP to level up to level six. I, too, had a reason to be ecstatic, but I wasn't. Though we had won, we lost Diabel in the struggle, and I was still in disbelief.

I looked down at Kirito as he looked at his earnings, including whatever he won for getting the last attack bonus.

"That was awesome, man," I congratulated. He looked up, stunned.

"What he said," Agil responded. "That was some fine swordsmanship."

"Yeah, Great job," Asuna continued.

"T-thanks," Kirito responded humbly.

"This victory is all thanks to you," Agil continued.

"No," Kirito responded. The others snapped back, agreeing with Agil's comment. People were cheering all over, clapping hands at the victory.

"Stop cheering, all of you," Kibaou yelled. The entire room went silent. What the hell did he want now?

"W-why did you do it, huh?" he asked Kirito.

"Huh?" Kirito asked.

"Why did you let Diabel die?" Kibaou asked again.

"Hold up," I stepped forward. "Did you seriously ask him why did he let him die?"

Kibaou's head snapped back up. "Of course! He knew what the boss was going to do."

Now I was fuming again. "He could have told us that, then Diabel wouldn't have had to die." He crowd was once again mumbling, but I have about had it with this bastard's rash comments.

"Now listen here…" I replied as I pulled my sword out of its hilt. However, Asuna and Agil held me back before I had the chance to strike.

"That's enough," Agil told me.

I was taken over by anger. "No, it's not. I want to show this bastard what I think about his attitude RIGHT NOW!" Suddenly, I felt a slap to my face, compliments of Asuna.

"Calm down, please!" she yelled, and I fell out of my temporary insanity.

Someone else from the crowd piped in. "I know. He used to be a beta tester. He knew the boss' attack patterns, but kept it from the rest of us."

"And I bet there are some more here right now. Show yourselves!" As mad as I was, I couldn't outright say I was one now, less I want to be blacklisted. And of course, no one else spoke up. A quiet murmur enveloped the area, seeking out the beta testers.

"Knock it off, you guys," Agil announced. "There's no need to…" Suddenly, Kirito began to cackle like a hyena, almost as if he was losing his sanity to the game.

"You guys think I was a beta tester, huh?" he asked. The way he said it made him seem like a totally different person. "It's shameful to be grouped together with those newbs." That one comment hit me in the feels, because that would perfectly embody me. I collapsed to my knees. Is this how he really felt? I quickly brushed that comment off, for I don't think that's how he really felt.

"W-what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kibaou demanded.

"Exactly what I said," Kirito started. "Most of the thousand people who scored beta slots were nothing but beginners. They were so green, they didn't even know how to level up." He turned back to the group. "Hell, you guys are a lot better than they ever were." Kirito walked towards Kibaou, but now he was really starting to scare me.

"But me," Kirito continued, "I made it to floors that were way higher than the other testers, and that's a fact. I knew about the boss because I fought others on higher floors with far more intricate skills. That's not all I know. In fact, I know more than any of you or any info broker in the game."

I was in considerable shock. I could no longer tell if this was an act or if it was how he really felt. He was so scary, even I was starting to believe most of what he said. I also heard that bastard Kibaou stutter.

"W-w-what the hell?" He mumbled. "If that's the case, you're much worse that a beta tester. You're a god damn cheater! That's what you are!"

"Yeah," a guy from the crowd exclaimed. "He's a beta tester AND a cheater. He's a beater."

"A beater," Kirito mirrored. He chuckled once more. "I like it a lot. Ok, then call me a beater." He started tapping at his console. "Just don't confuse me for those beginners anymore, got it?" With the tap of a button, a long, black coat materialized onto his avatar. That was the moment he transitioned to a lone wolf player. He smirked as he turned around, walking up the stairs to the exit.

Asuna and I went to catch up with him.

"Hold up," I demanded. He halted like a robot. "You don't have to leave. I don't care having you as a party member." He stayed silent, walking back forward.

"Wait," Asuna demanded as he halted yet again. "During the battle, you called me by my name."

"I'm sorry," Kirito replied. "Did I mess up the pronunciation?"

"How did either of you know it?" she asked. I sighed, but Kirito responded.

"Right under your health bar, you can see another one if you're in a party." I saw her looking closely as she spoke his name.

"Kirito? That's your name?" she asked again.

"Yeah," Kirito responded. The three of us remained silent until Asuna started to laugh.

"Ha ha, so it was there this whole time? I'm so dumb." She said.

Kirito spoke to both of us after that. "Listen, the two of you could become so much powerful by yourselves. But if the day comes where someone invites you guys to a guild, don't turn it down. There are limits that even a solo player can reach."

"And as for you?" I asked. "What will you do when that comes?" Suddenly, Kirito's name disappeared from my screen as he opened the door to the next floor. As it completely opened, he walked into the dark, foggy corridor alone.

I turned to Asuna. "So, what now?" I asked.

She caught up with me, standing at my side. "I guess I'll follow you lead for now. It's not like I've got anyone else to trust right now."

I smiled lightly. "Let's get going, then." With Asuna at my side, we walked forward into the same darkness than enveloped Kirito.

* * *

><p><strong> Another chapter is finally done! But good god, was it a nightmare for me to write. I've had this chapter brewing in my head for a week, but out of laziness and business, I wasn't able to write all that much. On the bright side, I did hold to my promise and brought a lot of action to this chapter.<strong>

** Another thing that was up was that I debated splitting this chapter into two halves, but I stuck with the battle until the very end and kept the origin chapters under five. So starting next chapter, the story will finally start becoming unique. But, there will come a time when I go back to the canon, so enjoy what little originality I add for now.**

** And once again, thanks for supporting me by reading, and please review if you can so I can make the story even better. Also, support my other fanfics, as I've still got ideas for those stories as well. Until then, keep trekking through the hellish nightmare of SAO with me.**

**-rjm324**


	6. Chapter 6

#6: February 14, 2023

"Now!" I shouted to Asuna. In an instant, she dashed beside me like she always does in battle and took out a string of enemies that blocked our path. Also as usual, in one clean swipe, six enemies erupted into a fizzle of blue pixels. The rewards leveled me up once again, this time to level 30.

It has been a great many months since floor one was cleared, and in no time flat, we were all the way up to floor 25. In that time, I grew exponentially in power, with a little help from Asuna. Yet as we climbed higher, fewer and fewer players had the drive to clear the game like the rest of us; in fact, more than half of the players still alive boarded back up in floor one, either out of fear or unwillingness to help.

Asuna and I, meanwhile, were trying to clear the game, and we've even been able to level up fairly high despite our inexperience. In addition, I've only seen Kirito on specific occasions such as boss battles, which kind of sucks. But in the end, I'm pretty sure he held true to his word and has tried extra hard to steer clear of me and the other beta testers. I admit, that little tidbit of information depressed me a little, but you learn to get over it. And considering the bosses get harder and harder with each passing floor, I couldn't really care about one individual player right now.

"So, want to head back to town?" I asked Asuna.

She sheathed her lightning fast rapier. "Sure," she replied. "We got a ton done today, so we should go ahead and rest."

"Alright then," I replied as we began retreating to the floor's town as the sun began to set in brilliant orange. I never could get enough of this view, even if every aspect of it was nothing but lines of data. And every time I came back to this realization, I also thought about my limp body lying comfortably in a hospital bed, leaving me even more depressed.

"Are you ok?" Asuna asked. I snapped out of my trance, realizing we were both stopped, likely due to my cluttered thought process.

"I'm fine," I replied, "but I was thinking about what things possibly look like in the real world."

Asuna frowned. "I think about that too," she added. "It's kind of scary to think about what our bodies must be going through while we're trapped in here."

After that talk, we quietly trekked back into the town of floor 25: Framework. After passing through the welcoming arch, we stopped by a random NPC shop to grab a quick bite to eat; it wasn't anything spectacular, but it isn't like either of us had much cooking skills built up. During that time, we remained silent towards each other thanks to our earlier talk.

As the nighttime hours began, Asuna and I began our walk back to the hotel that we holed up in when we weren't out leveling or searching for boss rooms. Again, we refused to talk to each other, but as we reached the front door, Asuna suddenly spoke up.

"Don't scare yourself," she started. "We'll get through this eventually, and maybe we could finally meet in the real world."

I brushed back my silver hair out of my eyes. "Yeah. Good night, Asuna."

She smiled. "Night."

SAO

I awoke from my sleepy slumber without a second thought. I don't know why, but I just knew that we would find and kill this floor's boss, no matter how difficult it may be. With this in mind, I equipped my deep blue outfit, and left my room for the day. After equipping my items and weapons, I quickly spotted Asuna with her long, chestnut hair.

"Oh, good morning," Asuna chimed.

"Morning, Asuna," I echoed. "I've got a good feeling about today."

"How so?" Asuna asked.

"I feel that the boss is going down today." I remarked smugly.

"Feeling confident, Haiyamoto?"

"No. I feel energized and unstoppable."

"Just one problem: where are we going to find the boss' room?" Suddenly, another player ran up to us, almost as if he was overhearing our conversation.

"Didn't you hear?" he asked.

"Hear what?" I countered.

"They just found the boss lair early this morning, and they're about to hold a meeting in the town center."

"Really?" I asked. "I guess that's our cue, Asuna." I grabbed her arm and we began a mad dash for the center. "Thanks, kid," I thanked him.

"Don't mention it," He replied. I had a feeling we could make it at a regular pace, but I certainly didn't want us to be the last ones there. Asuna probably wouldn't care as much, since many others rarely make the meetings on time, and even showing up at all took a certain drive to clear the game anyways.

After an eternity, we saw the populated town square, confirming the meeting. As a side note, when we had arrived at the meeting, it was still a good five minutes before any conversation began. But even when it began, I sort of tuned out a lot of the information; I did, however, pay much attention to the boss, the Two Headed Giant's, weapons and attack patterns.

And just like that, the meeting was adjourned like the others, and everyone began filing out. But as I was about to head back out, I noticed Kirito in his now trademark black trench coat-like jacket.

"Hey, Kirito," I exclaimed.

To my surprise, he turned in my direction. "Oh, hey Haiyamoto," he replied. As I got close to him, we shared a high five.

"How have you been?" I asked him.

"I've been better," he replied. "After all, this floor has been a bit tougher than the others."

"Yeah," I replied. And he was right, as floor 25 was excruciatingly more difficult than the others, as the notorious maze-like layout meant facing the risk of various death traps. But as Asuna and I battled, we seemed to be extraordinarily lucky when it came to avoiding the traps. Hell, I heard even Kibaou and his forces were having a rough time on the floor, which made me infinitely happier; but yet, they were also one of the driving forces of the Clearers, so it was melancholy happiness.

"You guys," Asuna remarked, "don't forget about me."

"Wouldn't dream of it," I replied.

"Yeah," Kirito replied.

"So what level are you right now, Kirito?" I asked.

"Right around the forties, I think," he replied.

"Damn," I countered. "I just reached level 30."

"That's not too bad, either," he reassured.

"Thanks."

"I just got to level 35, if you were wondering," Asuna enforced.

"Wow," Kirito replied. "That's pretty good."

I cleared my throat. "So, are you going to want to party up with us for the battle later today?"

Kirito's energy suddenly seemed to drain from his face. "Ummm…"

"Yeah, Kirito," Asuna chimed. "You never team up with us anymore, and yet we were such a team back at floor one."

"Well…" Kirito droned. I then put my hand on his shoulder.

"C'mon, man," I pressured. "It'll be just like the old days." After a minute of silence, he nodded his head.

"Alright," he replied. "If you insist, I'll come along this one time."

"Awesome," I exclaimed.

_Finally,_ I thought, _a chance to fight alongside the legendary Kirito once again_. I promptly sent him a party request, which he also promptly accepted as I saw his health bar materialize on my screen.

"Well," I started, "how's about we go level up some more out there before we have to fight again?"

Kirito stared at me, then to Asuna. "Is he serious right now?" he asked Asuna.

"Unfortunately," she replied. "He's been like this all morning."

Kirito turned back to me. "Sure," he replied, "I guess we could do that for a little bit."

"All right," I exclaimed again. "But don't worry; I don't plan on staying out there too long. I'm not quite suicidal yet." Kirito and Asuna snickered.

"What?" I asked.

"N-nothing," Asuna replied. "Shall we get going?"

SAO

"Whew," I remarked as we walked through the arch that signified the town entrance. "That was a true workout."

"What I want to know," Kirito started, "is why we spent half the day in the labyrinths."

I sank a little. "I might have gotten a little carried away."

"A little?" Asuna joked. "You didn't stop until you got to level 35.

"Not my fault it takes forever to level up," I countered.

"Right," Kirito remarked. "Well, it at least helped me out a little."

"I know, right?" I asked. "I told you that…" I cut myself off as I saw Kibaou and his forces trickling out of the teleport gate.

"What's up?" Kirito asked.

"It's that bastard, Kibaou," I snarled.

Kirito looked. "Oh, him," he replied.

"But," Asuna started, "why does it look like his forces have decreased in size?" She was right, as Kibaou always had an entourage of up to 40 players surrounding him at all times, but it also looked like he and his forces just returned from a battle.

I took off towards the gate, wanting to get a closer look. I halted around the teleport gate as I started to hear fragments of his recent encounters.

"…pain in the ass…" I heard from Kibaou.

"…too tough for us…" another player remarked. However, the group didn't stay long, as they departed to the western part of town. Suddenly, Kirito and Asuna materialized by my sides.

"What happened?" Kirito asked.

"I'm still working on it," I replied as I asked others in the square what exactly happened.

"I know what happened," I voice droned. I turned to find the friendliest info broker in Aincrad: Argo.

"Really, Argo?" I asked sarcastically.

"Really," she replied. "Would I lie to you, or even Kirito for that matter?" She had a point.

"A-alright, what do you know?" I asked.

"First, my fee," she remarked. I promptly paid her before she spat it out.

"Apparently," she began, "Kibaou was given false information about the boss and took 40 of his guild members to the boss' lair. After his forces and incoming reinforcements suffered major casualties, they teleported out of the boss' room without batting an eyelash."

"That idiot," I remarked. "Thanks a lot, Argo." I returned to Kirito and Asuna shortly afterwards.

"Well?" Asuna asked.

"Apparently, the idiot tried taking on the boss with just his own forces on false information."

"Yep," Kirito remarked. "That sounds about right."

"So," Asuna continued, "should we be worried?"

I shook my head. "With all of the forces participating, and with PROPER info, we should be fine." Suddenly, I noticed the rest of our forces nearing our position.

"Speaking of, it seems like it's almost time for the battle."

Kirito nodded. "Looks that way."

SAO

A feeling of anguish took over my body as we stopped in front of the boss lair's door. Considering what all has happened on this floor, it isn't really much of a surprise. But, I still held onto a scrap of hope that we would get by easily.

In an instant, the door opened slowly, and a veil of darkness once again separated the opposing forces and the boss. Then, just as suddenly, torchlight filled the room, and I saw the boss. He easily stood dozens of feet tall, was a distinct bluish color, and, true to his name, had two distinctly similar heads. The beast roared and his name, The Two Headed Giant, appeared over his head.

At that moment, Kirito, Asuna, and I were ready for whatever this beast had to throw our way.

* * *

><p><strong>And, done! Another chapter has bit the dust, and I'm very sorry for the long wait. Between a bunch of stuff happening at home and at school, along with a lack of creativity on my part, I had a very tough time writing this chapter. It wasn't until a few days ago, staring at the cover of SAO novel volume one's cover that I found the drive to continue and even came up with a basic plan for the chapter.<strong>

**But here's a funny story. When I came back to my fragment of a chapter and started referencing the wiki of SAO for assistance, I found that I picked the absolute best timeframe to write in; floor 25 was reached by February, the KoB was founded just after the floor 25 boss, and Kirito's time with the Moonlit Black Cats was just two months after the battle. In short, that made me reshape how the rest of the story will play out, including when Haiyo and Asuna will join the KoB (as she joined very close to its formation), Kirito's willingness to party up in this chapter, and a few more details I'm sure will be affected later on in the future.**

**In closing, I feel this is one of the hardest chapters I have written to date due to my obsession of sticking as close to continuity as possible; on the other hand, I feel it's one of my favorites as well due to how much freedom I had with the chapter due to the minimal info I had on floor 25. Although there wasn't much action in this chapter, I must admit that outside a few random encounters and the bosses, there might not be as much action as I would like to include (these scenes are daunting to write in the first place). However, do expect some strong ties to the both the anime and the light novels, as they are ultimately why I even began writing this in the first place.**

**So, until the next chapter, read on, and don't forget to read my other fanfics if you just can't get enough of me!**

**-rjm324**


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